Solar Wind Halo/Strahl Interaction with the Atmospheres/Ionospheres of Mars and Venus

Details Solar Wind Halo/Strahl Interaction with the Atmospheres/Ionospheres of Mars and Venus Solar Wind Halo/Strahl Interaction with the Atmospheres/Ionospheres of Mars and Venus

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p14b..04f&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P14B-04

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[5435] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Ionospheres, [5443] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Magnetospheres, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars, [6295] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Venus

Scientific paper

The solar wind is made up of two electron populations, the solar wind core, typically less than 50 eV, and the solar wind halo/strahl, typically greater than 50 eV. The solar wind interacts with both Mars and Venus by forming bow shocks in front of the planets which act to divert charged particles around the object. Observations by electron instruments on Mars Express, Venus Express, and Mars Global Surveyor show that the solar wind's higher energy halo/strahl component penetrates through the magnetosheath and interacts with the planet's atmosphere/ionosphere. The region where the solar wind and atmosphere/ionosphere interact is a region of transition between the solar wind electrons and dayside ionospheric photoelectrons. Both populations are observed simultaneously in this region of transition. Ionospheric sounding at Mars during times of steep gradient transitions show that this boundary transition has a finite altitude. The altitude range expands when the gradient is not as steep, creating a similar compression/decompression effect as observed in the Earth's plasmasphere. Compression of the ionosphere may lead to the observation of photoelectron and cold ion escape through the tail of Mars. The cessation/appearance of the halo/strahl component marks the transition from totally open to internally closed field line topology. It forms a framework within which the thermal plasma can be organized, both at low-altitude and in the distant tail. During the earlier history of Mars, with a more intense solar wind, this plasmasphere like mechanism would generally increase atmospheric erosion.

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